Ex-UUP MPs join Paisley's party

Former Ulster Unionist MP Jeffrey Donaldson today confirmed his defection to the Rev Ian Paisley’s Democratic Unionists.

Mr Donaldson and two other former Ulster Unionist Assembly Members, Arlene Foster and Norah Beare, quit the party before Christmas.

The trio announced today that they had decided to join the DUP after receiving an invitation to join Mr Paisley’s negotiating team for the forthcoming review of the Good Friday Agreement.

The defections mean the DUP now has 33 seats at the Stormont Assembly.

Mr Donaldson’s defection also confirmed that the DUP is now the largest unionist party at Westminster.